New Delhi, November 10
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has rooted for vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah to step up if skipper Rohit Sharma remains unavailable in the opening Test against Australia in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT).
Rohit's availability remains a concern for India after he admitted that he is "not too sure" about being present in Perth on November 22 for the opening Test, after the conclusion of the New Zealand series.
Ponting said Bumrah who has "always been the leader of the attack" can thrive both as a bowler and a captain during the match, which is expected to be a gruelling affair.
Bumrah holds the experience of leading the Indian team under his belt. He previously captained the side against England in Birmingham in 2022.
ICC Hall of Famer Ponting believes the 30-year-old is experienced enough to bear the responsibility as the captain and spearheading India's pace lineup. He even went on to cite the example of the current Australian captain, Pat Cummins, to make a case for the versatile speedster.
"Yeah, that (captaincy) is probably the hardest thing for him. I think that was always the question on Pat Cummins when he became the Australian Test captain as well. How much is he going to bowl himself? Is he going to bowl himself too much? Is he not going to bowl himself enough?" Ponting said on the ICC Review.
"But someone as experienced as Jasprit will understand the times when he needs to be bowling when he needs to have a spell," Ponting noted.
Ponting feels that Bumrah would benefit as a captain due to the presence of experienced campaigners in India's Test squad for the series.
India's 18-member squad features the likes of Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Rishabh Pant. All these stars were a part of India's last two Test series triumphs in Australia in 2018/19 and 2020/21.
"In that Indian team, there's a lot of experience around him. And it's really important, I think, that you use the experience around you even when you are the captain and just ask the appropriate questions at the right time because no matter how much cricket we've played, we're not always going to be right," Ponting remarked.
If Bumrah takes on the captaincy, there will be an added amount of pressure, which would come from taking on the burden of dual responsibility. But Ponting believes the 30-year-old will 'thrive' in it, with a place in next year's World Test Championship final at stake in the five-match Test series.
"Guys like that tend to thrive on the extra pressure and the responsibility. He's always been the leader of the attack for a long time anyway. Whether that's red ball, T20 or ODIs, he's the main man," Ponting said.